Garment reinforcing means



April 22, 1941. J. F. BAKER ETAL 2,239,028

GRMENT RENFORCING MEANS Filed Jan. 1G, 1959 @WM Mgg?? Patented Apr. 22,1941 GARMENT `REINFQRCING MEANS James F. Baker, Troy, Lester L. Almond,North Troy, Frank Ferguson, Troy, and Louis P. Madsen, North Troy, N.Y., assignors to Cluett, Peabody & Co., Inc., Troy, N. Y., a corporationof New York Application January 16, 1939, Serial No. 251,100

solaims. (c1. 2 265) f This invention pertains to apparel, and relatesmore particula-rly to garment reinforcing means designed to resistaccidental pulling off of fastener elements, for instance, buttons,during wear or in laundering.

Makers of buttoned garments such as are subject to frequent launderings(for example, mens shirts) are in constant receipt of complaints to the`effect that the buttons pull off before the garments have been Wornout. Sometimes buttons do come olf by reason of breakage of theattaching thread (although the attaching thread is usually relativelystrong as compared with the yarns used in weaving the garment fabric)but it is more common for the attaching threads to out the constituentwarp and weft yarns of the fabric so that the button pulls off with theloops of the attaching thread still intact and embracing portions of thegarment fabric which are pulled off with the button. Y

Various expedients have been devised for strengthening those parts ofthegarment to which the buttons are secured, but since the garmentmanufacturer, more particularly the makers of mens shirts, is restrictedto the use of devices which do not materially alter the appearance ofthe garment, as compared with ordinary garments of accepted style, nothoroughly satisfactory method insuring a dependable anchorage of shirtbuttons has heretofore been devised.

It is true `thatit has been proposed to use a small stay button at theinside of a heavy garment, such as a mans overcoat, as an anchorage forthe regular button at the outer side, but such mode of anchoring buttonsis not applicable to garments such as shirts, which are frequentlylaundered and in which the regular button itself constitutes the maximumof rigid material permissible at any one point.

It has also been proposed to provide the button-supporting front flap ofa shirt with a reinforcing strip of textile fabric extending along theedge of said flap and through which the buttonattaching stitches pass,but heretofore such stay strips have not provided adequate anchorage toprevent the stitches from pulling out or have been unduly expensive tomake and apply, or have been too conspicuous, or have added so much tothe thickness of the garment as to be objectionable from the standpointof appearance or laundering operations.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel stay or reinforce stripfurnishing adequate anchorage for the button-attaching thread, which issimple and cheap to make and apply, which does -to the annexed drawing,wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, elevational, perspective view of the upper partof the inner front flap of a shirt having an attached collar,and buttonsby means of which the inner flap is secured to the outer flap; and

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic section, to large scale, on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral I designates the inner front flapof a shirt. This flap is provided with the finis-hed free edge 2 and hasan attached collar 3 comprising the neckband 4. A button 5 is secured tothe neckband portion of the collar, and a series of buttons 6 (of whichbut two are shown) is arranged below the collar button 5 and parallel tothe nis'hed edge 2 of the inner flap.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, the front flap I preferably is provided nearits free edge 2 with a reinforce strip 9 of textile material which may,if desired, be like the material of the front flap I. The edge of thematerial of the front flap I is preferably folded in, as shown at Landthe edge of the reinforcing strip 9 is also folded in, as shown at 8,the in-folded portions of the front flap and reinforcing strip` beingregistered with each other and being united by a sewed seam Il) so as toform the hemmed and finished edge 2. The opposite marginal portion ofthe reinforce strip 9 is first folded at II so as to form a ply'IZ whichlies to the rear of the main part of the strip v9. The material is thenagain folded at I3 so as to overlie the ply I2 and form a pleat I4. Thematerial is then again folded along the line I5 so as to embrace thefold II and to dispose the margin IB of the strip 9 between the frontface of such strip and the rear face of the garment flap I. Thus at thispoint there are four plies of the reinforce strip disposed behind thematerial of the garment flap and spaced inwardly from the free edge I2of the latter, and Ithese four plies are united to the material of thegarment flap by a row of stitches I1. The making of this row of stitchesand the folding of the material of the reinforce strip to form the pliesmay ne done in a single operation, by the use of an appropriate folderattachment, in an ordinary sewing machine.

The row of stitches I 'I extends substantially sides respectively of therow of stitches IAI.` YThese stitches of strong sewing thread closelybind ltogether the constituent yarns of the several plies of material sothat immediately behind each button is an area of great firmness,`substantially symmetrical with the button and which provides a verysecure anchorage for the button-attaching stitches, making it verydifficult for thebuttonattaching stitches to pull out by cutting rorbreaking the constituent yarns of the fabric.

This type Yof reinforce is particularly useful .when a series of buttonsis to be attached,since the reinforcing strip 9, in accordance withthismode of procedure, not only provides reinforcing means for each of theseveral buttonsof the series, but also cooperates with the'material ofthe garment flap to provide the finished ledge 2.

While certain desirable embodiments-of the invention have been describedby way of example, it is to be understood that the invention. is notnecessarily limited to these precise embodiments but is to be regardedas broadly inclusive of any and all equivalents thereof such as fallwithin the terms of the appended claims. Y

We claim:

1. In combination in a shirt comprising overlapping front flaps of whichthe inner 'is pro- `vided with buttons'for engagement with buttonholesin the outer flap, reinforcing means for the buttonsupporting: fiap toprevent the buttons from being pulled out, said reinforcing means`comprising atleast four plies of textile fabric disposed at the rearside of the inner flap of the shirt and united thereto by a row ofstitches extending substantially parallel to the free'edge of said flapand underlying the centers of the several buttons, and button-attachingmeans disposed at each side respectively of'said row of stitches anduniting each button to the material of the inner flap and to the severalplies of reinforcing fabric.

2. The combination withva garment having a hem along one edge thereof,of a facing strip having a similar hem along one edge thereof, the

hemmed edges of the garment and strip being in registry and a row ofstitches uniting the strip to the garment and completing said hems, theopposit-e marginal portion of the facing strip comprising foursuperposed plies, the material of the strip being turned rearwardly toform a fold line spaced. from but parallel to said line of stitchesthereby to provide a ply of the strip disposed adjacent to the rearsurface of the strip, the material of the strip then turning rearwardlyagain to overlie lsaidply and therewith forming a pleat, and then beingturned forwardly to embrace the `first fold line vand having its freemargin interposed between the front face of the strip and the vmaterial-Tof" the garment, stitches uniting the the garment 'disposed at theouter side of the latterA and substantially symmetrically across saidlast-named row of stitches, and attaching means passing through saidfastener element, the materialiof 'the garment, and the several plies ofthe reinforce strip,` such fastening means being disposed ateach siderespectively of the last-named row of stitches.

' 3. In combination with a garment including an edgeportion providedwith buttons for engagement with buttonholes in a complemental part ofthe garment, said edge portion including a foldedin marginof thematerial of the garment proper and a folded-in margin of ya reinforcestrip, said folded-'in margins registering with each other and a`row ofstitches `:uniting them, said reinforce stripextending inwardly fromsaidrow" of stitches to a rstlongitudinal fold thereby forming a firstreinforce ply, said reinforce strip extendingout- War'dly from saidfirst longitudinal fold to` a second' longitudinal fold thereby formingaseco'nd reinforce ply, lsaid reinforce strip extending'in- .Wardly fromsaid second longitudinalfold to a iJAMEsF.-BAKER.H '1., L."rir.1\roND.lFRANK FERGUSON.

Loors P. MADsEN.

